About Koala Ngardang

Ngardang

Origin of name:

Ngardang means mother in the Wathaurong Aboriginal language of the You Yangs/Geelong/Ballarat region.

Known since:

2014 – she was first seen as a tiny joey with her mum Babarrang. We estimate she was born in January 2014.

Ngardang as a tiny joey, with her mum Babarrang in 2014

How often seen:

She is seen quite regularly – she was seen on 36 days in 2017.

Family:

Her mum is Babarrang, and her father is probably Vincent (one of the stars of the book “Koala Clancy of the You Yangs”) She has three siblings that we know of – a joey born in 2013, Djadja born in 2015 and Burun born in 2017.

Ngardang has three joeys herself – Wurdi (m) born in 2016; Lakorra (f) born in 2017 and a brand new joey Bunyip born in 2018. Wurdi and Bunyip were probably sired by Clancy, Lakorra was probably sired by Winberry.

Ngardang with her first joey Wurdi, first son of Clancy, in 2016

Neighbours:

Clancy lives in the north of her range, Winberry in the south. Females Mara, KiKi, Kozo, her sister Djadja, and her daughter Lakorra are her nearest neighbours.

Interesting Notes:

Ngardang is an excellent breeding female and is doing it by the book – she had her first joey when she was 2 years old, her second at 3 years and her third at 4 years. She is a large female, and we’ve noticed that females with large body size are more successful mothers. Perhaps her large size shows that she is very fit and healthy, or she’s grown up in good habitat. Living near her mother could also have given her access to quality habitat. Female koalas with large body size may also have more choice over which male they mate with, and choose the fittest father for their joeys.

Media Appearances:

Ngardang and Lakorra showed off their tree climbing abilities in this video for Wild Koala Day, May 3 2017: